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Industry News

Hero of the Song – A songwriter’s perspective on the 2023 Ed Sheeran case

05 Jul 2023

The following article was written by FTMI board member Eddie Schwartz , a multi-award winning songwriter and president of the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM). This text originally appeared at www.ciamcreators.org. “In November of this year, one of…

Upcoming Event: Symposium on protecting free speech in the global music landscape

24 Feb 2023

On March 3, 2023, FTMI board advisor, Charles Sanders, will be co-hosting an important symposium on political violence against music creators. The event is presented by the National Music Council of the United States and the the International Music Council…

Maria Schneider achieves important, incremental victory against YouTube

08 Aug 2022

One of Fair Trade Music’s international partners is Music Creators North America (MCNA), the umbrella group and international representative for the independent songwriter and composer communities of the United States and Canada. MCNA recently issued a press release declaring its…

New music shows decreasing popularity in the United States

20 Jul 2022

A new midyear report from the US market monitor Luminate has shown the country’s total album consumption of what they term “current” recorded music fell by 1.4% in the first half of 2022. That’s compared with the same period the…

Independent songwriter groups meet with BMG music publishing

06 Jun 2022

Representatives of the independent American and global music creator communities led by the Songwriters Guild of America, the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and Music Creators North America met with BMG President Thomas Scherer and his team in Los Angeles…

Mechanical royalties: Footnote to a historic achievement

11 May 2022

Our international partner, the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM) has released a summary of the recent achievements regarding the US Copyright Royalty Board and mechanical royalties on physical and downloads. The text is reproduced below: In this, the…

International songwriter groups join together to oppose the freezing of US mechanical royalty rates

28 Jul 2021

Music Creators North America, the Songwriters Guild of America and the Society of Composers & Lyricists have been joined by nine domestic and international groups representing the interests of half a million songwriters and composers in filing comments before the…

Streaming “needs a complete reset”. UK government inquiry concurs with FTMI study on revenue parity

18 Jul 2021

After ten months of analysis, discussions and expert testimony, the UK government has released the results of its inquiry into the Economics of Music Streaming and concluded that the system “needs a complete reset”. The 122-page report lists the reasons…

US music creator organizations SGA, SCL and MCNA applaud Copyright Office “best practices” recommendations to the MLC

10 Jul 2021

Groups also warn “there is a long way to go” toward identifying the proper recipients of unmatched royalties. The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), and the Music Creators of North America (MCNA) coalition…

FTMI partner, CIAM welcomes the Ivors Academy to its global family of creator alliances

30 Jun 2021

Fair Trade Music International partner organization, the International Council of Music Creators, has welcomed the Ivors Academy of Music Creators as CIAM Observers. Aligned with the goals of CIAM, the new connection with the Ivors Academy allows music creators in…